Gary Ablett reapplied his iron grip on his mantle as the AFL’s best player with a sensational Marcus Ashcroft Medal-winning performance, as he lifted his Gold Coast outfit to its first QClash victory since the inaugural Queensland derby three seasons ago.
The two-time premiership player and dual Brownlow medallist turned in a monster night at Metricon Stadium, rallying his team to an emphatic 53-point victory over the Brisbane Lions. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak to the GC SUNS’ ‘big brother’ from up the M1.
Ablett led his fellow midfield fleet superbly for four full quarters, picking up a game-high 38 touches, ten tackles, six clearances and three game-changing goals. Post-match, he became the first player to be awarded a second Marcus Ashcroft Medal for best-on-ground in the QClash.
Gold Coast dominated the contested football, but it was the SUNS’ spread on the outside that hurt Brisbane most, and it showed most notably in the inside-50 count with the SUNS leading the Lions 59-41 in that statistic.
Ablett confirmed it was an area Gold Coast had focused on heavily leading in to Saturday’s round three clash.
“We wanted to start well but then you have to go back and put in the work,” he said.
“The guys got it out of the centre and got it forward.
“Our pressure was a focus going in and we wanted it to be right up there.
“We got it on the outside and used our leg speed which is a great strength of ours.
“I’m super proud about the way the boys went about it.”
With young guns Dion Prestia (32 disposals), David Swallow (26 disposals) and Jaeger O’Meara (24 disposals) continuing to demand central midfield roles, Ablett said their rapid growth was allowing him to play more freely, given their ability to shoulder more responsibility around clearances.
“They’re in their fourth pre-season now and they’re starting to understand how professional you have to be and how hard you have to train,” Ablett said.
“We are coming off the back of a solid pre-season and we haven’t had too many injuries, which has helped us.”
Ablett said the playing group would now re-group and begin preparing for what arguably could be their toughest match for 2014; a round four showdown with 2013 premier Hawthorn.
The Hawks’ confidence will be sky-high after their 58-point clinical win over Fremantle, and Ablett insisted the SUNS would need to prepare adequately.
“Obviously we’ve improved in a lot of areas, (but) still have a long way to go,” he said.
“We will take a lot away from the first half; we won a lot of the areas of our game but just didn’t finish off our good work. So I’m sure we will get out the tape and have a look at it during the week.
“We’ve got a big game coming up against Hawthorn so hopefully we can back it up.”
